In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a decent gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.25% to 8,742.7 points.
Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:
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Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA)
The Codan share price is up 16% to $36.76. Investors have been buying this metal detector and communications products company's shares following the release of a trading update. Codan revealed that it expects to report a 29% increase in revenue to $394 million for the first half. And thanks to stronger margins, its profit after tax is expected to grow at the even quicker rate of 52% to at least $70 million. Management advised that its revenue and profit growth for the first half of FY 2026 were underpinned by "outstanding results achieved by the metal detection business and ongoing strong performance in the communications segment."
DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)
The DroneShield share price is up 4% to $4.01. This follows a strong night of trade for US defence stocks after Donald Trump revealed that he is aiming for a US$1.5 trillion defence budget by 2027. On TruthSocial, the US President wrote: "After the long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars."
Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB)
The Mesoblast share price is up 9.5% to $3.23. Investors have been buying this biotechnology company's shares following the release of a sales update. The allogeneic cellular medicines developer generated gross revenue of US$35.1 million on Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd) sales for the quarter ended 31 December 2025. This represents a 60% increase on the prior quarter ended 30 September. Mesoblast's chief executive, Dr. Silviu Itescu, said: "Our strong balance sheet, continued growth in quarterly sales of Ryoncil, and a new lower-cost financing facility provides greater flexibility for strategic partnerships and pursuit of label expansion for Ryoncil."
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)
The Woodside share price is up 3% to $23.62. This has been driven by a jump in oil prices overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price was up 3.9% to US$58.15 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price was up 4.1% to US$62.41 a barrel. The catalyst for this was supply worries in Russia, Iraq, and Iran.
